Nanny jailed for allegedly hitting 6-month-old

A longtime nanny was arrested on Monday for allegedly hitting, slapping, throwing and dragging a 6-month-old boy under her care in Berkeley, police said Thursday.

The Berkeley parents called police last Friday and turned over video from their home surveillance system that shows their nanny, 44-year-old Ingrid Perez of Richmond, treating their infant son violently, according to police.

The alleged abuse happened on Oct. 19. In court documents, police described the surveillance video turned over by the parents, writing that it appears Perez entered the infant’s bedroom and hit him in the back of the head with her knuckles as if she was knocking on a door, telling him to “shh.”

Investigators wrote:

“Perez then forcibly moved the victim to the top of the crib nearly hitting his head on the railing of the crib.”

“She turned his head to the right and appears to shove his head into the bed with her left hand.” After that, she hits him on the bottom and again in the back of the head, then appears to once again shove his head into the bed, according to court documents.

After the parents called police, the child was taken to a hospital to be examined but did not appear to be injured, police said.

Police arrested Perez on Monday as she was on her way to another childcare job in Berkeley. She has been charged with two counts of child abuse, one felony and one misdemeanor, and remains in custody without bail.

Perez has worked for a number of different families in the area over the last 10 years, police said.

Investigators have contacted other families she’s worked for trying to determine if there are any other victims but so far haven’t discovered any. Police think more may still come forward.

Anyone with additional information about the case has been asked to contact Detective Melissa Kelly with the Berkeley police special victims unit at (510) 981-4760.